Chances are you are constantly logged into one of the social media apps that most of us use daily. While there are many social networking platforms, these sites can be more than just catching up with old friends; they can be the best marketing resource you have in your business.

Which is why consistency with these platforms is key.

Maintaining consistency online, whether that is through social media or your blog and website is one of the best ways to gain loyal followers. Loyal followers will establish a visual identity for readers to remember you by. What about your other outlets? Keeping your online presence consistent will really solidify your audience’s perception of you. While your blog is where you show off your talents and give your readers wonderful content, social media is where they get to know you on a more personal level, and that’s where your next focus should be when establishing your online presence.

There are several actions you can take to start streamlining your social media profiles. Here are some tips!      
                                 

Have your photo be the same on each of your platforms

You know that image you have at the top of your sidebar? Upload that photo as your profile picture on all of your social media profiles. Your audience will start connecting that photo with your blog and overall presence, which is just the start of this process. Most social media platforms use a square profile picture, so having a high quality square image in your files will make things super simple.

Create a consistent cover photo

Most social media pages have a space for a cover photo, and using the same photo across them is just as important as using the same profile picture. Unfortunately, each platform has a different size, so you’ll have to do a bit of editing here. I’d suggest designing the biggest one first, and then cropping from there! Here are the sizes for the most used social media platforms:

Facebook: 851 x 315 px

Twitter: 1500 x 500 px

Google Plus: 1088 x 608 px

ALWAYS have a call to action in your bio

(ie. “Interested in buying or selling your home? I’d love to be your Realtor- Contact me here!”) This will help direct your followers to your website.
   

If you’re talking to everybody, you’re talking to nobody!

Therefore, focus on 3-5 themes or core topics that define your brand, and only showcase social media visuals that relate to those. The more you simplify your focus, the more consistent your social media page will become.                                    
                   

Get your followers involved

Getting your readers involved is absolutely essential to engagement. A few easy ways to do this:

• Ask questions
• Teach them something
• Inspire them. Everyone loves some positivity or a great inspirational quote
• Share a relatable real life moment or life struggle- People LOVE this one!                                  
  
  

Use other social media platforms to grow Instagram and vice versa

Make sure you always put a call to action on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc. that directs people back to the social media page you are trying to grow. Invite them to join you on Instagram where all the fun happens, and include the direct link to your IG page.
                   

Create before you consume

You must create and generate your own ideas first in order to truly receive. Epic engagement is in the production and creativity of your own work, not the perfection or comparisons of others work. It’s not about making your work better than anyone else, but about making it truly unique. And if someone else blog or social media feed inspires you, feel free to give a credit or shout out! You may actually pick up more followers that way.
               

Images matter

Your feed is a curated look that gives the audience a 360 view of your life. Make sure every post is a reflection of your brand and is up to par in terms of the quality your followers can expect from you!

Build a community

Now, don’t you leave this post and go give about 15 people a “Love your feed” comment with a heart emoji and think that you are building a community. Instead, reach out, leave meaningful comments, ask questions, connect with people and send some encouragement! It’s called social media for a reason… you have to be social.

Captions are king

Captions are the best way for you to connect with an audience and build a consistent brand.

If you have a photo but are stumped on what to say do this: tell the story, tell me why this photo matters, explain the context of it, or why I should care about the moment you are sharing. It’s so easy to get caught up in little sayings or one off sentences, but the true connection comes when you not only invite your followers to “like” your post, you invite them into that moment – that is when people truly connect with your work, with your life, with your story.

Use your own voice

When posting on social media, try to use the same voice you use in your blog, because your audience will recognize it. For example, If you are a fairly sarcastic person, and try to be as relatable as you can in your posts.

Create a short bio to use across the board

A lot of “bloggers” have a short snippet about themselves on their blog, and it’s the perfect bio to use on social media. Using the same bio on every platform establishes who you are, and how you want your audience to see you, so choose your words wisely and try to get as much information as you can into just a sentence or two. Character limits are the barrier here, so if you have to change things up in order to meet that requirement, take out any fluff words and narrow down what your audience really needs to know about you.

One last tip: Try to avoid posting the same thing to each profile (I know, that sounds like the opposite of consistency). A lot of your followers probably follow you on multiple platforms, so it can seem spammy when your word for word exact post shows up on several of them. Instead, try changing up the wording to suit the platform you’re using, and scatter the posts throughout the day to catch readers who may not have been online earlier.

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